This article is based on an interview between Anneloes van Delft (NSS EPALE Netherlands), Jos Sanders (HAN) and Saskia Marsman (CNV) and supplemented by Mariëlle Verhoef - van Lier (HAN).

How do you stimulate lifelong development, in the context of sustainable employability? One of the essential elements for stimulating lifelong development in the workplace is creating a good learning culture. For this, you can use so-called 'learning ambassadors' concept in the workplace. So, how does this concept work? The pilot project 'effective deployment of learning ambassadors' (from 2023 to 2026) may provide an answers. Within this pilot, learning ambassadors will be trained and the effectiveness of the intervention will be studied by the Hogeschool Arnhem and Nijmegen. EPALE would like to know more about that! Saskia Marsman (project manager learning and development CNV and project leader learning ambassadors) and Jos Sanders (lecturer at Arnhem and Nijmegen University of Applied Sciences) are both involved in this pilot, we spoke to them about it. 

Learning ambassadors as drivers of learning culture

As an employer, offering various learning and development opportunities does not necessarily mean that employees actually start learning. It is important to also pay attention to the conditions that make learning possible. A good learning culture encourages employees to take accountability for their own development and ensures that barriers to learning and development are removed. Colleagues and managers at work have an important role in stimulating this learning culture (TNO, for more information see here). They can: offer support, be role models, provide trust and safety, and engage in interaction about learning and development. By working with a 'learning ambassador', you can lower the barriers to learning and development. In England, where they have applied the concept for some years now (called union learning representatives there), it has been found that using learning ambassadors works successfully, among other things to increase employee participation in learning and development opportunities. 

During a study visit to England, one of the Dutch unions (FNV) came across this successful concept. Saskia: "The FNV brought this idea to the Netherlands, and that's how it all started."

Who are the learning ambassadors?

Learning ambassadors are employees who themselves have had positive experiences with learning and development, for example by successfully completing a course later in life. They engage with their colleagues about learning and development to enthuse them, but also pick up signals that they can pass on to the management (for example of possible barriers to learning). An example on the latter comes from the municipality. There, many employees did not take part in courses on the online learning platform, because they had difficulty using it. The learning ambassador then engages in discussions with his colleagues and feeds these kinds of signals back to the learning and development department. Saskia: "It is important to mention that learning ambassadors are not career coaches: they can enthuse people and point out opportunities (e.g. to grow), but they do not give in-depth career advice." 

Personal drivers

"I want to make sure someone is aware of his/her labour market position, and what learning and development can mean in that"

Saskia: When I started as a union executive, it was the time of the big reorganisations. At that time, there was a large group of employees struggling to find new jobs. A large part of this group of employees had been working in the same job for a long time and had not worked on their own employability. I think it is important for employees to be aware of the importance of their own labor market position, and the opportunities they have to learn and develop. Even before they end up on the street or want to change jobs. This learning ambassadors pilot will (hopefully) contribute to that.

"I am convinced that everyone can learn"

Jos: Everyone can learn, only some people experience a barrier to learning, which often stems from existing from negative learning experiences or a lack of confidence. By making learning visible and by starting the conversation in an accessible way, the learning ambassador can hopefully remove some of those barriers.

The 'learning ambassadors' concept is now being tested within the pilot 'effective deployment of learning ambassadors' (2023-2026) within the Netherlands. Within the project, learning ambassadors will be trained and the effectiveness of the intervention will be measured by the Hogeschool Arnhem and Nijmegen. Saskia: "So far, we have trained about 30 learning ambassadors. These come from various sectors. The focus is on organisations that employ many practically educated people because it has been shown that practically educated people experience relatively more barriers to learning [1]”. In addition, previous research in England (Stuart et al. 2016) [2] shows that learning ambassadors are able to motivate precisely this target group of practically educated people for training. Within the pilot, employers are used to recruit the learning ambassadors.

Learning ambassadors remove barriers

The first experiences of learning ambassadors collected by HAN show that learning ambassadors mainly play an important role in removing barriers. The people that the learning ambassadors speak to (their colleagues), are often people who do not have good experiences with 'school learning' and therefore often believe they cannot learn. Because learning ambassadors discuss learning and development in a low-threshold manner, and know the different possibilities for learning and development, these beliefs and barriers can be removed. The learning ambassador is also important in finding the way in all different possibilities for learning there are: people often do not know the possibilities or do not know if and how they can make use of them (Verhoef - van Lier, M., & Nijman, D.J. (2023) [3]. 

Training learning ambassadors

You do not ‘just’ become a learning ambassador, the learning ambassadors are properly trained. Saskia and Jos: "The training of learning ambassadors consists of a two-day group training. The group training involves a mixed group of participants from different sectors. Among other things, we deal with interview techniques, such as motivational interviewing: How do you start a conversation? How do you ask the right questions? But also: how do you deal with resistance? And how do you make yourself known in the organisation? The training ensures that the learning ambassadors have the right skillset to fulfil their role as learning ambassadors. The result of the training is a completed action plan outlining how you will fulfil the role as learning ambassador."

It doesn't stop at the group training: personal coaching and support via an online learning environment is also provided. Experience shows that learning ambassadors run into things as soon as they start, such as making themselves visible in their new role. By working together with the employer, efforts are made to provide individual coaching and, after a while, ask where further help or support is needed. Intervision is also organised and a refresher training offer is considered. 

European examples and research

Since the mid-1990s, there have been projects with  ‘Union Learning Reps’, at thousands of organisations in very different sectors in England; the concept has proved very successful there. The job descriptions and rights of learning representatives are even embedded in the Employment Act (2002). 

Different variants of learning reps can now also be found in the rest of Europe: Denmark, for instance, has 'educational ambassadors', Sweden 'union learning counselors' and Finland 'union competence pilots', and in Flanders they call learning ambassadors ‘Sherpa’s’.

Wise lessons

The results of the study on learning ambassadors will be delivered by the end of 2026. Jos: "In the study, we look at what happens to the learning culture and what happens overall in the companies where learning ambassadors are active."  Saskia: "What I would like to add is that learning ambassadors are appointed independently. They are not a means to achieve organisational objectives, but really an independent intermediary."

Saskia and Jos' message is also mainly: start experimenting to improve the learning culture within your organisation! If you want to use the materials developed within the Dutch learning ambassador project, please feel free to contact us!